Smoked aubergine, pepper and walnut salad with pomegranate
Most Middle Eastern nations seem to have a version of smoked aubergine. From meat to every kind of vegetable and even some fruits. Try out this simple yet flavoursome salad recipe with crunchy pomegranates served with flatbreads
- 4 large auberginespricked with a fork
- 3 large red peppers
- 50g walnutschopped
- a small bunch flat-leaf parsleyroughly chopped
- 2 large cloves garliccrushed
- 6 tbsp olive oilplus extra to serve
- 1 lemonjuiced
- a pinch ground cinnamon
- 75ml pomegranate molasses
- 100g pomegranate seeds
- to serve flatbreads
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal182low
- fat13.4g
- saturates1.8g
- carbs8.6g
- sugars7.9g
- fibre6.5g
- protein3.3g
Method
step 1
Blister and char the aubergines and peppers, either on a barbecue, under the grill or directly on the flame of a gas hob (lining your hob with foil will prevent you having to deal with a very heavy clean-up, as the juices can be messy). Really blacken the skins until they are hardened and completely burnt.
step 2
Leave the aubergines to cool for 20 minutes or until they are just cool enough to handle. Put the peppers in a food bag, tie it closed and leave them to sweat for 20 minutes. After this the charred skins should slide easily off the peppers, leaving just the roasted flesh. Roughly chop and put in a large mixing bowl.
step 3
Use a large metal spoon to scoop out the flesh of the aubergines and put it into a sieve to drain off any of the excess juices. Discard the charred skins. Roughly chop the flesh into smallish chunks and add them to the roasted peppers. Mix together gently, add the walnuts, most of the parsley, the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and cinnamon with some seasoning to the bowl, and give it all a good mix until evenly combined.
step 4
Serve the aubergine mixture smoothed flat on a large platter. Drizzle with the pomegranate molasses, scatter over the remaining parsley and the pomegranate seeds, then add a light drizzle of olive oil. Serve with flatbreads.
